Grazing in a field is a natural method for feeding domestic animals, such as livestock, farm animals, and domestic pets. Throughout history, when grazing in a field was not easily available, animals have been fed in stalls or corrals with hay or other feed placed in a feed box and the animal is allowed to feed at its leisure. Such hay boxes are nothing more than a containment box with an open top, the opening allowing the animal to reach into the box from the top to get at the feed.
Several problems exist with this type of a hay box. First, a significant amount of hay inevitably spills onto the floor of the stall or ground. This loose hay results in a wasting of the hay as feed material, often results in the ingestion of contaminates by the animal as it eats hay from the floor of the stall, and creates additional work in cleaning the stall. An additional problem with prior hay boxes is that prior hay boxes also do not efficiently restrict the rate at which the animal can consume the feed. If feed is not continuously provided, the animal will often eat at an excessive rate when the feed is initially provided, resulting in potential digestion problems.
Improved devices for feeding animals include various forms of moving elements as described in some of the U.S. patents listed below. However, these conventional feeder designs do not efficiently restrict the rate at which the animal can consume the feed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,544 describes a feed saving insert that is positionable on the surface of feed within a feed bucket. The insert includes a sheet formed into a disk that is sized to be loosely received through the bucket top opening and to rest against feed within the bucket. Access apertures are formed through the disk and are uniformly spaced about the disk to permit limited access to feed under the disk. The disk and access apertures are sized such that access to the feed within the bucket is limited and so the disk will float on the feed within the bucket and will change in elevation within the bucket in response to removal of feed during feeding. A guide shaft is provided, projecting downwardly from the disk and through an opening in the bucket bottom to hold the disk substantially parallel to the bucket bottom and guide the disk in its downward movement responsive to removal of feed from the bucket.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,117 describes an animal feeder providing feed to animals and includes a plurality of side and end walls defining an interior chamber. A perforated plate defines a bottom wall of the chamber and is moveable therein. A grate defines a top wall of the chamber and allows access to feed material contained in the chamber. A spring mechanism biases the plate toward the grate such that feed material located within the chamber is continuously provided to an animal feeding at the level of the grate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,794 describes an animal feeding station which provides livestock, at virtually any desired location, waste-free access to fibrous feed material in quantities heretofore unobtainable with a portable unit. Compacted fibrous feed is charged into a rectangular-shaped, variable volume hopper formed by a pair of upstanding stationary, spaced-apart, opposing end walls and a pair of movably suspended mesh-covered side panels. The side panels are movably suspended on sloping tracks mounted interior the end walls such that the panels are positioned by gravity against the confined feed mass. Feeding livestock are able to grasp the fibrous feed through the mesh according to their need, and in doing so forcibly urge the panel, along the sloping tracks, against the remaining feed mass. Thus, the livestock have continuous limited access to the outer wall of the feed mass, until the mass is depleted; but are unable to obtain unrestricted access to the feed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,189 describes a hay saver insert adapted to be removably positioned on and within a conventional cylindrical hay feeder. The insert includes an upper end portion which rests upon the upper end of the conventional feeder and a conical-shaped portion which extends downwardly into the interior of the feeder. Hay is placed within the insert and the animals have access thereto. Hay being pulled from the insert by the animals may fall into the area between the conical-shaped portion of the insert and the interior of the feeder which prevents the hay from being trampled.
Thus, an improved animal feeder with an insertable feed restrictor is needed.